It has been a calamitous winter inside the NHS. Last week, three people tragically died at Worcestershire Royal hospital with a women dying of a heart attack after waiting for 35 hours on a trolley. A similar picture has developed across the country with patients on trolleys due to lack of beds, many hospital trusts on red alert and ambulances missing targets for life-threatening emergencies. The British Red Cross declared a humanitarian crisis in the NHS.
The return of the Red Cross to Europe, over the last few years, for the first time since the Second World War is a terrible indicator of the toll austerity is taking. Wall-to-wall coverage and acres of column inches have generally failed to examine the root causes. Health journalists and correspondents seem perfectly content to recycle the crisis mantra. This is extremely convenient for the government and vested interests. What is missing from this picture is that the NHS crisis is manufactured by deliberate policies of cuts and privatisation.
The NHS will have endured an unprecedented nearly £40bn in cuts by 2020. Prime Minister Theresa May’s response – notably in last Sunday’s interview with Sophy Ridge on Sky News – has been to downplay the crisis. Hunt followed suit and his statement to the Commons on Monday was a typical masterclass in deflecting the blame. The initial response in the government playbook was to change the subject to mental health. Hunt also raised the possibility of axing the 4-hour A&E waiting target….read more
